Polymer Surface Modifications by Coating

Fine printing on polymers can be realized by controlling the wettability of the polymeric surface, which can be efficiently conducted by coating through the modification of the surface with another material. Synthesizing a material on polymers is often very challenging highly due to the low thermal durability of the polymers. Therefore, selecting good coating methods and considering coating materials and polymers are indispensable. The coating methods are normally categorized as organic, inorganic, and metallurgical coatings. In more detail, the photo-grafting polymerization, the initiated chemical vapor deposition, and the UV-curable coatings are utilized for organic coatings on polymers. The plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and the magnetron sputtering are used as inorganic coatings, while the electroless plating and the vapor deposition are employed in metallurgical coatings. Each method for the coatings on polymers are discussed and overviewed.